12k3w4r68 >> [ music ] >> bill: good morning, everybody. what do you say? it is monday morning, this monday april 8th. welcome to the "full-court press" here on current tv. hope you had a great weekend ready to tackle the big stories of the week. president obama -- by the way, we will tell you what's going on, of course, but give you a chance, more importantly, give you a chance to let us know what you think about what's going on

by giving us a call at 866-55-press, by following us on twitter and talking to us@bp show and on facebook at facebook/billpressshow. president obama up to hartford connecticut to salute one more state taking the lead in enacting tough gun safety measures. that means now we have new york colorado, connecticut, and maryland actually. last week came the latest to do what the people want on gun safety measures. congress comes back in town today the big question is: will they have enough backbone to act and take on the nra like the states have done. in other news, president obama has apologized to california attorney general pamela harris for telling the world not only what a good job she is doing but how good looking she is.

a pill over the counter without a prescription and cnn is talking about bringing back crossfire. i am tanned, rested and ready. we will tell you why on current tv. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

(vo) current tv is the place for compelling true stories. (kaj) jack, how old are you? >> nine. (adam) this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. way inside. (christoff) we're patrolling the area looking for guns, drugs bodies ... (adam) we're going to places where few others are going. [lady] you have to get out now. >> lots of terrible things happen to people growing marijuana. >> this crop to me is my livelihood. >> i'm being violated by the health care system. (christoff) we go and spend a considerable amount of time getting to know the people and the characters that are actually living these stories. (vo) from the underworld to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more

documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> occupy! >> we will have class warfare. (vo) true stories, documentaries. on current tv. [ music ] >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> bill: president obama on his way today to hartford connecticut to salute yet one more state taking strong action on gun safety. good morning, everybody. what do you say? it is monday april 8th, great to see you today on the "full-court press," coming to you live on your local

progressive talk radio station, on sirius xm this hour only satellite radio and on current tv. here we go all the way across this great land of ours on a monday morning to let you know what happened over the weekend, what's going on here in washington, d.c. turn off your associate's degree cell phone did, please. the show is starting. what's going on the nation's capitol in this great land of ours and around the globe? we will bring it all to you this monday morning and most importantly, involve you in the conversation. we love to hear from you anywhere you are in this united states of america. i love to hear those voices from the northwest an especially from the south. 866-55-press, is our toll-free number, and let's see. you can join us on twitter too. right? peter? @bpshow. >> that's our twitter handle. or follow us on facebook at -- become our friends on facebook

at facebook.com/bill press show. yes indeed, we've got a lot going on this morning. so we have to bring the whole team in, you know, just to handle it this morning. >> almost. >> peter ogburn and dan henning. >> hey, hey, hey. >> alicia cruz, our latest member of the team and cyprian has the day off. >> cyprian has the day off. >>. >> we don't have to worry about his over sleeping. monty cancellor. monty, good to have you with us. thank you. everybody have a good weekend. >> yeah. great weekend. >> in philadelphia celebrating our wedding anniversary. what a great town. philadelphia is a great city. >> it really is. >> i lived there, taught school there for a couple of years a long time back but at that time, i didn't get to enjoy downtown philadelphia and they've got great restaurants, great shops. >> so high school? of you to buy

your wife a cheesesteak for her anniversary. >> read main feed because we didn't go to geno's -- i must admit. >> what a romantic date. >> we went by saw the liberty bell. >> very nice. >> couldn't get tickets into independence haul, got there too late, saul ben franklin's grave the house where thomas jefferson wrote the declaration of independence, the first draft. >> it's hard to walk around and not just get struck with awe at all of the history that's in place. and about a square mile there. less than that. >> betsy ross's house, ben franklin's house. >> it's cool. >> a great foodie town, too. really great restaurant. i didn't think i had been in downtown phillie since the republican convention in 2004. so yeah, i mean to spend any

time. and the new barnes collection is phenomenal, worth a trip just to philadelphia just to see it. great art collection by this eccentric albert barnes outside of philadelphia right near the great museum of art near the franklin institute, on benjamin franklin parkway in a phenomenal new building. the most exciting thing is we have been keeping track. right? it was just about a week ago, 10 -- only 10 democrats had not embraced same-sex marriage and they started falling one by one by one. last time we checked, it was eight last week and then seven and then it was six and today, it is four because two more democrats came out in support of same-sex marriage.

the -- joe donnelly from indiana and heidi heightcamp from north dakota. four democrats left. that's not biggest announcement. the biggest announcement is a national leader, leader of the country of north korea actually came out in support of same-sex marriage. here he is speaking through a translator on saturday night love. >> as you know, in the past, i have taken a different view on same-sex marriage. >> uh-huh. >> but lately, my thinking on this issue has evolved. mostly because of the experiences of a nephew who happens to be gay. watching him suffer unhappiness because of this policy me deeply. >> there it is. >> i still had to have him ex extricated but not because he was gay. it was because he was hosting a

weekly book discussion group at the department. >> that was a very gay thing to do. so they had to extricate him. there we go. joining us today, ryan grim washington bureau chief from huffington post will be here as a friend of bill and we'll be joined by eleanor sneal, head of the the feminist majority, great show coming up but first. >> this is the full court press. >> other headlines making news on this monday march madness, now april madness comes to an end tonight as the ncaa back of basketball tournament championship after four games on saturday, where louisville beat out wichita state by four points. michigan beat syracuse by 5. number 1 louisville against number 4 michigan the last time these two teams played each other was back in 1978. >> who won? >> i don't know it's been so

long ago. >> bill: i saw a little bit of that louisville-wich game. i was starting to worry. >> umh-huh. >>wich was looking good. what's that mean for tonight? >> michigan is hot at the right time. louisville has had a couple -- they have had a good tournament so far but the fact that they struggled a little bit in that last game, i don't know. may get steamrolled. >> four n.f.l. players may come out of the closet sooner we think. that's what form ter baltimore ravens tells "the sun," there are up to four players in talks now to come out on the same day together so they can take the pressure off just one guy trying to come out by himself. no word on exactly when this may happen. only that they were confident the people they have been talking about will very shortly.

>> that's fascinating. >> it is. >> i think he's right. it's going to take sort of a group of people to say. we're here we've been here that >> bill: that would be huge for them to do that. >> i don't know. the number of people who do not watch regular television any more continue to grow. the nielsen ratings company is out with a new report showing that the number of what are called zero t.v. households is now at 5 million homes nationwood. >> i hate these people. >> that's up from two million 5 years ago. these homes have no cable no, soot light no over-the air t.v.s in their their homes. they are watching online and on mobile devices. it's a cause for concern for broadcasters. usa today reports it will be a national con -- a hot topic at the national association of broadcasters. >> i make a living on t.v.

to see these little bumper stickers that say like burn your associate's degree t.v. or trash your associate's degree t.v. >> i don't own a t.v. >> people are watching. they are just not watching on a television set. >> i want to run into them with my car, ram them with my car, say wait a minute. paying for my kids' college education with this job. where do we start the day? we start with an apology today. this really -- 0h, man, i know. i know. i know. i hate to start the week by pissing you off. i hate to start the week off by making you angry with. i guess you will disagree with me but i don't think president obama did anything wrong when he pointed out how good looking camela harris is in california and i think he made a big mistake and it was totally unnecessary for him to apologize. all right. so there. 866-55-press. let's go to a break.

we will take your associate's degree calls when we come back. all right. no. we will flesh it out a little bit here no, look. seriously, what happened, you know what happened? this has become -- what i hate about this, this has become such a big deal. we did it all during campaign. by the way on both sides, we did it. everything, every little thing anybody says, we blow it up into a great big freakin' deal. right? the president is in california. he's at a private dinner fundraising dinner for the dccc at the home of ann and gordon geddy. i have been in their house. it's closed. there is no press or anything but somebody blacked that the president -- blabbed introduces what happened to be -- a friend of mine, a very good friend of his, they had been friends for a long time before he was elected

president, and here's what he said about camela harris. he said quote, you have to be -- listencabe. you have to be careful to first of all, say, she is brilliant and she is dedicated, and she is tough. and she is exactly what you would want in anybody who is administering the law and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake. boom. then he as she also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country. now, what's wrong with that? first of all, it's true. have you seen any of these other old farts who are generals or young farts who are attorneys general? whether she is attorney general or not, she is i will say, one incredibly beautiful woman. so the president as that and then everybody says, oh my god he is a sexist.

this is terrible. how can he say that? he is demeaning her. he is making fun of her. did you hear everything 1234 she is brilliant, she is dedicated. she is tough. she is exactly what you want in somebody administering the law. and the white house ran for cover. right? when somebody started criticizing, they ran for cover, and the president called her up and, as jay carney explained at our briefing on friday he apologized. >> he called her to apologize for the distraction created by his comments and, you know, they are old friends and good friends. and he did not want in any way to diminish the attorney general's professional accomplishments and her capabilities and i would note that he called her in those same comments brilliant, dedicated and tough. and she is all of those things. >> bill: so really? was it that wrong? was it so wrong for him to say what he said?

and should he have to apologize? 866-55-press. i'm sorry he did. 866-557-7377. 866-557-7377. i wish he would just said she is a good friend of mine. you can say -- you can hear, by the way, the laster, you know, i am sure the way he delivers the line when he said that line. but he meant it. i just wish camela harris had said you know what? i am the best looking attorney general in this country and if you don't think i am, you show me one who is better looking than i am. that would have put it. the president says all the time how beautiful michelle is. biden says how beautiful jill is. i guess it's different. but you know who was there? gavin newsom was there. he is a handsome dude. what if obama said, et cetera doing a good job as attorney general. he happens to be the most

handsome attorney general -- lieutenant governor in the country, which would also be true. but i guess you can't say it about him or her. then they say you are gay. i don't know. you can't win for losing these days. i hate to see people make such a big deal and i hate to see him grovel. >> you know, i have to say i disagree with you a little bit on this. >> you are fired. >> damn it. there i go again. he was on the right track. he said everything he needed to say. >> yeah. >> and women in this country who are still fight with equal footing with men, they want to be -- they want to be taken seriously on what they can accomplish. >> he put two women on the supreme court of the united states. look at valerie jared. >> i am not going to go so far as some people said sexist.

he has a women problem. i don't think that's the case. i think when you start calling a professional woman who has gotten a lot of stuff done and is tough, if you start calling her looks into question, i don't know that that's appropriate. >> if ect recognize she is good looking, i think political correctness has gone too far. i will not say that you are the best-looking producer in this country. no 866-55-press. did the president do the right thing? should he have had to apologize? no. i don't think so. >> heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is "the

bill press show." their encouragement that have taken us by kayak literally around the world. historically a lot of people who go out on adventures go out for adventure's sake which i applaud. but this day and age i think you have to go out with a higher purpose. everywhere we went we talked to

people about climate change, overfishing. all those things we've saw we've seen literally everywhere we've gone. a big part of our motivation in going out and having these adventures is to bring back stories that we can share. ya know, the tools are incredibly important. technology has changed but the goal is the same. it is to enlighten people using adventure as the trigger. on each of these adventures, at one point, i'll just be sitting on a beach, looking at that horizon line and reminding myself how lucky i am to be able to be out there and to be both learning for myself and then sharing. i know that we're not going to change the world from the seat of a kayak but if i'm able to bring those stories back and share them and i manage to change the life of one person or two or three or four then it was totally worth it.

this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern [ music ]

>> radio meets television "the bill press show," now on current tv. >> bill: here we go 25 minutes after the hour talking about president obama's, i think totally unnecessary apology to camela harris on thursday or i guess it was friday when he got back to washington and realized there was flap about it. have you met our new call screener alicia cruz she is on the job this morning. now, i am going to get myself in trouble. i am going to say she is the best looking call screener we have ever had on this show. she is a hell of a lot better looking than stevie lee web. >> that's true >> bill: that's a true statement. so all right. call me sexist. all right. >> a lot of calls about this on twitter >> bill: sock it to me.

>> in the chat room at current.com. mzaddy says ig say it was a tad condescending condescending, we try to hard to be taken seriously. on twitter@bp. >> darryl said if he had said how beautiful it would be offensive but he helped her others comments first and sun streak says would you say how good looking a man was in the same circumstances? and follows up >> bill: by the way, i would. >> that's why i mentioned gavin newsom. >> that's a valid point. i guess the point some people were making is he didn't. sun streak wants to point out that fox news actually agrees with you that obama should not have apologized and didn't do anything wrong that forces him to question whether or not this is even right or wrong. if fox agrees. >> i didn't know that was a

position. from indianapolis, hey janet. how are you doing? >> mr. press i am doing well >> bill: bill please. >> i totally agree with you that mr. obama did nothing wrong if she had been a tall person as well and he commented her being tall as well as her other attributes nobody would be saying anything. we have too many real problems to deal with. i am a profession woman and i would not be offended at all had that occurred to me. >> i am glad to hear you say that. we know from some of our gammopathies not all professional william or not all women would agree. i understand that. i understand that. i just think given the totality of his comments and given their friendship and their relationship that people may made too big a deal of it. >> that's not the first time it's happened, not with him. even with other people, too.

we become -- we become too sensitive, you know. this is "the bill press show." to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

>> chatting with you live at current.com/billpress, this is "the bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. you got it 33 minutes after the hour on monday. how about it? the full court press. we are coming to you live from washington d.c. our nation's capitol brought to you today afsmee, the largest public

healthcare workers under lee saturdayers. go to their website at afscme.org. afscme the good men and women of afsme making it happen 'til . we will to talk about hillary but first we want to talk about president obama. he got so much flack for camela harris. if you have seen her picture, you know he is right, she happens to be the best looking attorney general in the country. >> that's after he said she was brilliant, she was dedicated. she is tough. she is exactly what you want and anybody administering law making sure everybody gets a fair shake praises her professional skills and then also says by the way, boom. what's wrong with that. he had to apologize he has so much flack. i think he should not have i policy jets.

he did nothing wrong. >> on twitter @bp show.com said i completely agree. says, obama didn't have to apologize for what he said. it wasn't sexist and it's not like he called her a wetback as some elected officials have gone on. >> and did not apologize. >> right. right. exactly. >> right. kim is out in denver, colorado. kim, what do you say? good morning. >> good morning, bill. i love your associate's degree show. >> thank you. thank you. yeah. but? >> no. there is no but at all. i am with you all the way. >> okay. anyway, i want to comment. i totally agree with you that in this context that you know what president obama said, it was blown out of proportion. he was fine. you don't always want to comment on someone's looks but in this

case, i think that it was okay she is a friend and he was among friends. right? >> exactly. sometimes, you know how you jokingly say, you know, at the end of after you praise someone for how brilliant they are or whatever, at the end, he said, it doesn't help -- it doesn't hurt that she is good looking as well. also bi it sounds like he apologized for the distraction. he didn't say i'm sorry i said you were beautiful but i'm sorry that for this whole flack and distraction. good to hear from you, kim. love denver. look forward to getting back out there pretty soon. it's been too long since i have been out there. we will see you out there. jim from las vegas. i am on my way to las vegas back

again. i love las vegas too. >> bill, the president is a connoisseur of good-looking women. when his wife was out campaigning, we didn't say -- he did say what a wonderful first lady she is but said what a beautiful, smart intelligent and then got back to beautiful. what an excellent first lady. she is classy and the president knows. he is a judge. he knows america's best looking women. i see no reason that he had to apologize. he knows a good-looking woman. >> he does and he's married to one by the way, i like the fact that you take the analogy to michelle. she, also, is very smart, very tough, very organized, very focused, very articulate and she

happens to be probably the best looking first lady in our lifetime. >> yeah. i agree with all of those things. >> and she is tall, too. >> she is. yeah. and she's really outstanding. all right. sunday talks shows. what are the sunday talk shows all about? shifting gears here, follow me. get excellent opinion about the weighty issues of the day. what are the weighty issues of the day? north korea, gun safety. we've got immigration reform it

includes cuts, budget which comes out on wednesday and these are among global warming. the weighty issues of the day. >> is hillary going to run in 2016? give it a break. give it a rest. here it is on this week george stephanopolous who should know better better, does know better, asking ariana huffington whether hillary is going to run. >> do you have any doubt that at some point, she is back in? >> she is obviously running, but what would have helped would be if she would have taken more time to call herself untired. >> now she hasn't announced it t

way in the future, we got 2016. let 2016, i think there ought to be a law that we don't talk about 2016 until the end of 2015. >> that's still too early in the spring of 2012. for 2012, we started in 2008 as soon as the election was over people were saying who is going to run against obama for reelection?

for three freakin' years, it was all of the buildup to 2012. it was too much, too much too much. among friends even somebody says i have to ask you this question. i said i am not going to answer it. i don't want to talk about it i don't think we should talk about. those of us in the media have a responsibility to not engage in silly gossip and it means nothing. there are so many freakin things. >> she may not be alive. it's a long way away >> bill: you don't know who else will die or suddenly become a huge rock star. give it time. the problem is, oh, god, it pisses me off. we have entered the age. we live in the age of the perpetual non-stop campaign and

that no time to get things done. the way it ought to work is the way it used to work. you fight like hell, you give it your associate's degree all during a campaign and then some win and some lose and then you get to work and the winners and the losers sit down together and they say okay. what are the problems facing this country? how can we work together to get something done? each side gives a little bit. you move something forward. then, you do that for a couple of years and then when you get closer to election time again, you go back to campaign mode. we are perpetual campaign mode. this is what this is all about. i blame the media. george stephanopolous -- there are too many other things to talk about. he should not have talked about hillae. neither should david gregory. neither should bob schieffer. none of them should. let it rest. >> let me ask you this then.

>> damn that pisses me off? >> do you think hillary is going to run in 2016? >> bill: see what i mean? see what i mean? i can't get away from it if you catch me doing it, you have every right to call me on it but i am not going to talk about whether or not hillary is going to run for 2016, and i refuse to have to broach it as a topic on this show. it is a waste of freakin' time. 866-55-press. when we come back, we are going to talk with aaron blake from the washington post. we will find out if he thinks hillary is going to run. >> this is "the bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can

question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv.

>> this is the "full-court press," "the bill press show" live on your radio and on current tv. >> here we go 13 minutes before the top of the hour here on a monday morning april 8th, the full court press. good to see you today. thanks so much for being part of the program. a lot of politics in the air these days as always, particularly today on a day when congress comes back in session after their latest two-week break. the latest of many two-week breaks they seem to be taking these days. we wanted to check in with a good friend of ours, aaron blake

is a national political reporter for the washington post, particularly for the fix column. aaron, good morning. good to talk to you again. >> good morning, guys. thanks for having me. >> so we started out. i would love to get your associate's degree take on this before we get into some of the other issues of the day. president obama called camela harris, the california attorney general and apologized for getting her involved in all of this flap about his saying not only what a great job she was doing as attorney general of california but how beautiful she was. have we gotten overrule political correct. >> it is a sensitive issue whenever a male politician or someone is talking about a female politician. i think all too often, they talk about their appearance whereas that doesn't happen in the reverse so often. so i think when people see that that's part of the reason they don't like it. i also think -- >> what if she had said, you know what? if she were introducing him and

said, you know what? he is probably the best-looking president we have had in my lifetime? >> it would be interesting to see what the reaction was. i don't think it would be as severe. i think the problem with this is more that it seems kind of like a boys' club. there was a ron susskind kind of look, the former communications direct or basically saying the white housekind kind of look, the former communications direct or basically saying the white house was something of a hostile workplace toward women. i think that set that. >> that's the reason it blew up a little more than it would have. >> probably they apologized because they didn't even want the beginning of it all flap. >> that's the best way to bring it into an end and move on. that's what they did. maybe he needs to apologize to

the rest of the country rather than her. >> the issue you have written about and you have been keeping score as we have with joe donnelly, senator joe donnelly and heidi heitkamp flipping their position on marriage equality same-sex marriage. we are now down to four democrats left this has become an issue on this people now feel it is kind of a litmus test issue where it's difficult to take that position in your own state. but, you know, the fact that we have red state democrats like heidi heitkamp and joe donnelly and mark pryor in arkansas was a big one.

>> but mark pryor is still on the other side. correct? peter? i think? >> i can't -- no. >> there are so many coming out these days, i can't keep track. >> bill: pryor as r50e7b89 as friday, i believe. >> he is saying he isn't sure if people choose to be gay. he. >> he says he is in the undecided category. he hasn't officially come back. he is having a hard time with the whole issue of homo sexuality. >> mancion, pryor, mary landrieu and tim johnson for south dakota who is not running for reelection. so i don't know what his problem is. >> yeah. there are a couple who are running for re-election. kay hagan in north carolina max bachus in north carolina. we will get a feeling for whether this will hurt them in consecutive living states in two short year's time. we will see how this pans out. i think now it's if you are a

democrat at this point, it's something your associate's degree party expects you to be on board with. >> friday, you had a piece about ben carson, dr. ben carson up at johns hopkins. he was -- sort of his meteor was taking off. right? and then it crashed to ground awful fast. didn't it? or at least for now. >> this is -- >> go ahead. >> this is a cautionary tale for anybody who is kind of, you know, made a name for themselves outside of the world of politics an wants to get involved. the fact is that he is fine talking about all of the issues and talking about the economy but this was such an unforced error. he wasn't even -- it wasn't even a tough question. i mean it was a very sympathetic interviewer and sean hannity and he took it in a different direction talking about nambla

and beastiality. it was really quite a remarkable screw-up on his part. i think it shows that you can't, you know, jump head-long into politics and not expect for something like this to happen to you. >> he was -- people were saying -- we talked to people here that he was the rising star of the republican party. right? they were talking about him as a potential candidate for 2016. i am not saying he can't bounce back but it shows, i guess he is not ready for prime time as we say. >> yeah. i was the a political action conference and he alluded to potentially running for president. he announced his retirement from medicine. it was pretty clear that people were excited about this guy. i mean, you know you don't often see some people who most people don't really no who who he is taking to the stage and getting such a good reception. i think people liked what he had to say. this is not the end of ben

carson but i do think he's got to be thinking twice about going on cable news every night and making a name for himself that way. i think he will probably -- you will probably see him scale it back a little bit, at least for now. >> we will see if johns hopkins goes through with him as their commencement speaker. follow aaron blake on twitter at -- >> it's different now. it's aaronblake. we changed it up. i moved to a different blog aaronblakewp. >> we got it. all right. hey, aaron, good to talk to you again. thank you for joining us this morning. >> okay. >> follow him @aaronblakewp. >> this is "the bill press show."

[ music ] >> bill: good morning, everybody. what do you say? it is monday april 8th. good to see you today. thank you for joining us here on the full court press. coming to you live on current tv, from our nation's capitol and our studio on capitol hill and bringing you up to date on the big stories of the day, whatever is happening in our nation's capitol, around the country, around the globe, we are on top of it.

we will tell you what's going on and give you a chance to tell us what you think about it. 866-55-press is our toll-free number. you can follow us also on twitter twitter. invite your comments on twitter @bp show and on facebook at facebook.com/bill press show. president obama is off to hartford, connecticut today to salute the action taken by yet one more state on tough gun safety laws. connecticut just the latest state and maryland joining connecticut. so now we've got, let's see, new york colorado, connect and maryland, all of whom have shown the way. congress comes back in town today. the big question is: will congress have the backbone to take on the nra the way states have done? in other news, president obama has apologized to camela harassed for telling the world how beautiful she is. a judge has ruled that the morning morning-after pill must be available across the county --

counter without a prescription, and cnn has made the big announcement that they are bringing back crossfire. i am tanned rested and ready. right here on current tv.

[ music ] >> interesting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show" >> bill: president obama headed to hartford connecticut today to salute the work of the connecticut legislature in enacting the toughest gun safety laws in the nation. good for them. good for governor daniel malloy. good for the president for keeping the pressure on congress to do the same thing. hello, everybody. it is a monday morning. great to see you today.

happy monday. april 8th. this is the full court press. we are coming to you live on current tv and on your local progressive talk radio station, radio show t.v. show. we are both. i love having you part of the program. don't forget you don't have to just sit back and take it. you can join in and give us your point of view. look forward to hearing from you either by phone at 866-55-press, on twitter,@bp show. @bp show and facebook.com. had lots of comments, lots of called already this morning and we will keep it going with your assistance. congress is coming back in town. maybe we will see a little action on gun safety and i

ambration or maybe not. the way it's been happening lately, there wasn't much difference whether they were in to or not in town don on twitter says they may be back in town. but i don't think they will do a damn thing. >> i don't think they come back until tomorrow. there is certainly a lot on their plate if they would get to it. we have the team here this morning, peter ogburn and dan hen can. good morning, guys. >> good morning. good to have you back and alicia cruz has the phones. cyprian bowling has the day off. monty canceller filling in for him on the video cam keeping us looking good on current tv. we were so excited last week when the nats wiped out the marlins and then they went on the road to cincinnati.

it didn't work so well in cincinnati. they ended up winning one out of three games losing two of them and the first one they lost in cincinnati was brutal. here is what it sounded like in the 8th inning. >> a ground ball, base hit, right field, for third is bruce. he will make the turn. he is coming home. by worth. cut off. single right for fraiser drives in bruce with run number 15. reds 15 and the nationals nothing. >> 15. you've got to lose man. >> add to lose by two touchdowns. >> right. we are still 4 and 2. we wanted an undefeated season damn it. >> we got off to a good start. >> there are actually no -- i was looking at the standings. there are no undefeated teams

any more. best record is 5 and 1 in the league. we are in free fall. it's a downward spiral. >> knew it couldn't last forever. there they go. go. nats. yes, indeed. we have a great line-up coming up from you. rosa delauro. she join us in the next hour, ryan grim will be here in the next hour as a friend of bill for the entire hour actually rosa joining us about 20s minutes from now and eleanor sneal will be head of the feminist majority and other big issues but first. >> this is the "full-court press." >> other headlines making news on this monday, some republicans are not happy that beyonc yes. e and her husband went to cuba to sellcelebrate their anniversary. a group of republicans in congress asking the treasury

department for information on the type of travel licenses that the stars received and who approved those because tourism to cuba is prohibited. >> not entirely. >> the members say they 'sent many people who have been harmed by the castro regime and having high-profile americans like beyonce and jay-z is a bad minutes. >> you can if you are part of a religious or scientific mission and you can go. >> i wouldn't say to jay-z are just anyone. >> go to a third country. you can get there. it's just ridiculous. you know what? she is good on some issues. she is for same-sex marriage but she is part of the old baptista regime that hated castro

forever. look anyhow. >> that's so old fashion what she is saying. >> donald trump was booed out of madison square garden on saturday night. he was attending the wwehall of fame induction ceremony at wrestlemania and he had to cut his remarks short while he was on stage with wwe president financial mcmahon because the booing got too loud. he finished up and left the stage, left the arena. it was clear no one wanted him there. >> finally, somebody caught on to donald trump and booed him out. that's what they should have done at cpac. >> you know who was there a surprise entertainer of the year winner a lot last night's academy of country music awards in las vegas, luke brian took home the coveted over expected favorites.

lambert took home female vocalist for the three straight year and she and her husband won a couple of schwarz for "over you" and eric church won al boost mobile of the year. >> how about it? dan, thank you yes, indeed the big news in cable t.v. first it was a rumor now it seems to be a reality, that cnn is starting june is going to bring back crossfire. this is a subject that i know something about because maybe some of you didn't know i wasn't always on the full court press. at one time, i had a different job. cross crossfire. on the left, bill press. on the right, john sununu. >> bill: there it is. those were the early days of crossfire when pat buchanan was running for president and john

sununu was there. oh, my god. have you heard about cnn? have you heard the rumors they may bring back crossfire. what do you think of it? i tell you what i think of it. i love to get what you think of it at 866-55-press. my answer is is this a good idea? my answer is, it depends on which crossfire you are talking about because there were two crossfires and now, the problem with it today is when you think crossfire everybody goes to jon stewart. getting on crossfire and talking carlson a 4-letter word. that stands for peanuts. it starts with b. >> that's what they think about. >> that's not what crossfire was all about. no. that's not what crossfire was all about. when i say which one, they are thinking about bringing back the real crossfire or what i call the kiddy crossfire. the real crossfire -- first of

all, crossfire started on the radio, on wrc here in washington, d.c. with tom braden and pat buchanan. good clinical debate show. ted turner hurt it. ted turner said i think i would love to put that on t.v. when he started cnn, he brought braden and buchanan in and they started crossfire. pretty soon, bob novak joined them. braden buchanan or novak, braden, and then, they added others along the way. after tom braden moved on, michael kinsley took over on the left. i succeeded michael kingsley with geraldine ferraro and geraldean ran for senate against al dem atdemato and i was the only one for the last five years. i did crossfire for six years and i was on myself, a rotating gang on the right again, of bob

novak and pat buchanan assed john sununu when pat was off running for president. mary madeline joined us tucker carlson. i think those were the ones but one of those on the right. me on the left. that the program lasted for 19 years. nineteen years. it was cnn's second highest rated program after larry king live. it was very successful. it was the first political debate show on television and it was by far the best. i will say that flat out en though, you know, i was part of it. it was the best political show and i will tell you why, because it lasted just a half an hour. you had a laser focus on one issue, one issue for that half hour. 2 expert gifts and you had two coach hosts enough about the issue that they could ask intelligent and tough questions. it was a brilliant format: a

black background and that little desk, boom. that lasted 19 years, the stupidest decision ever made in cable television cnn cancelled that and replaced it with what i call the kiddy crossfire, moved the show to george washington university, put it in front of a studio audience instead of one issue, they just bounced from issue to issue: they rang a bell and turned it into a gone show and destroyed it and that's the show jon stewart went on. >> that's the show kiddy crossfire said was a joke. >> that's the show jon stewart attacked and a year later, cnn attacked it. the real cross show jon stewart didn't kill. cnn killed the real crossfire:

they will move right in and take over. what the hell? i can do this show for three hours in the morning and do crossfire. back when i was doing crossfire, i was doing four hours of morning radio at the same time. >> that's great. >> i am ready. tanned, rested and ready. of course, cnn has to call me first. >> call me maybe. >> 866-55-press. >> 866-55-press. buzz if you want to bring back the real crossfire, i say absolutely. there is nothing like it on television today. bring back the real crossfire: the joke was a waste.

depends upon what they come up with. 866-55-press. the newer crossfire. cnn sort of went on record. they are moving away from it. they will not book as many. watch t.v. they like the conversation. a childish gimmicky like a caricature of all of the crossfire, you can get down to the meat of the issues. >> i think -- and i have watched a lot of the old shows. at the end of that half hour, you knew a hell of a lot more about that one issue. you knew that issue in depth from both sides, and then you could kind of make up your own mind what it was all about. it was meaty. it was substantive. it provided a lot of information and a lot of entertainment.

for 19 years. if they hadn't killed it. 866-55-press. cnn are you ready? are you ready? crossfire. heard around country bill press show. you have seen on current tv. building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it.

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden

agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. [ music ] >> bill: here we go 25

minutes, 24 minutes after the hour here on a monday morning, april 8th, good to see you, folks. thanks so much for joining us here. lots to talk about this morning, congress coming back in town. president obama going up to connecticut today to talk gun safety and in the cable news front, cnn saying it's time to bring back crossfire. i am all for it as long as it's the real crossfire. what do you say, joey out in chicago. hey, joey. good morning. >> good morning, guys. i think that's a wonderful idea if it's the original crossfire. that was a great show. and, you know, bill, with bob novak, when was he on show? before or after you were? >> no. he and i sparred many many many nights. he actually became a good friend. he was on pat buchanan started it with tom braden but shortly after they got to cnn, it started on cnn, i would say within a year, in the first year

of cnn, bob novak joined us so he was on the show for 19 years, 18 years. >> that's a great show. i agree. you would be great on that show bill. i hope you get it. that would be fantastic. that's all we need is more bill press. >> all right. unfortunately bob novak is no longer with us. but pat buchanan is mary madeline is, tucker is. we got the team here bring it on. >> i am ready. out in marine a delray california, anita. >> hello. i have been a fan of crossfire for many years and would love to see it back on broadcast. it would be wonderful. it was a marvelous experience. i like to get angry with the people rah are discuss -- who are discussing things and i think it would only add to the atmosphere in the country. >> people still stop me and say whatever happened? what was cnn thinking of? why did they end that show? it's just crazy. it was crazy.

>> >>? >> it was good for people to express themselves. yes really call for this purpose but i am not going to try to change the structure of your program. >> i think what's interesting about -- >> thanks, an itaanita. thankful so. >> sometimes when you get the best argument from the left and the best argument from the right, then you can sort of make up your own mind and go wherever. of course we can have somebody like bill press on the left it's hard to go the other direction. >> because i was so convincing. >> true. >> but the idea was -- and i remember saying one time at the end of the show where novak and i were ending the show and we always had our closing comments at the end. we had a word for that the yip-yap we called it. not on the air but privately. we referred to it as the yip-yap. after that and the lights went out and i turned to bob and i said, god, that was a fun show.

we were just, you know, boom, boom boom. it was fun because we both had good arguments, whatever the topic was and i loved it. it was fun. steve is out in the hollywood california. hi, steve. >> hi, bill. great show as usual. >> thank you. insure you are aware there is an old saying in the business that goes something like a face and a physique made for radio. okay? you are definitely not one of them. you looked the part. you and pat both looked the part. that was for allotted of fans got wind of you and what dynamic special personalities you were. >> i am blushing through my make-up. >> we do say it's a great taste for radio -- a grace face for radio. thanks so much.

we will discuss with rosa delauro, congresswoman from connecticut. >> this is "the bill press show." (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso.

>> chatting with you live at current.com/billpress, this is "the bill press show." live on your radio and current tv this is the"the bill press show" >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour, monday, april 8th. how about it? live from the nation's capitol, if you will court press brought to you today by the international association of machinists, good men and women under tom buffenbarger president, sharpening america's edge on the global economy.

you bet. they are rebuilding america's manufacturing base as well. for more information go to their website at go aim, go aim.org. president obama hitting the road today. he was in colorado last weekend. saluting the colorado legislature for taking tough actions on gun safety measures today he will be there to recognize the incredible work and very strong work toughest gun safety laws in the nation passed by the connecticut legislature signed into law by governor dan malloy there with the president proudly representing the state, our good friend and neighbor congresswoman rosa delauro. great to have you with us. >> great to be with you. thank you so much. >> the connecticut legislature stepped up to the plate with the governor and this is a state,

your state, which was once led the nation in gun manufacturing. right? >> that's right. not only a gun manufacturing state, home of eli bitney. >> remington. yeah. >> with great pride is what connecticut did last week, bill. that is really very strong, graceokos members with the strong leadership of the governor did the right thing and in producing the strongest gup safety legislation in the nation, and, you know, it was four months ago, and i was in the audience when the president spoke and at that juncture he said are we going enough to protect our children and keeping them safe from harm? and he answered his own question by saying no, we have to change

that. democrats and republicans came together last week and took the first step toward changing that. >> amen. no, congresswoman, we have new york state and colorado and connecticut and maryland as congress comes back in town everyone is asking the question will congress follow the lead and stand up to the nra? what do you think? >>. >> it's my hope, you know, that that's all of these states' actions, obviously including my state and leading the way we will provide that same sense of courage, if you will, to members of the senate and the house and

to do the right thing. no one -- of the senate and the house and to do the right thing. these are measures that are common sense measures to present future gun violence. >> that's what this is about. and so i hope it will serve as a model and that the very strong public outcry and particularly with regard to background checks. >> right. will be persuasive to the senate and to the house that they have to act. we don't come to these institutions for our own self agrandizement, ideologies. we come to do the people's business. i think the american public as spoken out loud and clear. >> do you think, congress woman, that this issue has reached a point where either democrat or republican can stand for

responsible common sense gun safety measures and still get ree 4rek9d? >> absolutely. israeli do believe that. i think that no town was -- newtown was a turning point. tragically. >> yeah. >> tragically. twenty babies, six teachers who gave their lives to protect these kids. i think the public has had a strong visceral reaction. >> that's why you are seeing over 90% of the public looking at background checks. >> sure. >> there is strong support for banning assault weapons but this is -- you know what i have found in my career -- there may be some parts of the country where there isn't the case but,

you know, we are charged with doing what is the right thing. that's what our role is. >> of course. >> what you have to -- you have to have the courage. you have to have the courage to do. >> the great -- the great thing about the connecticut law is of course, that it does include background checks and expanding the already existing ban on assault weapons in connecticut and the ban on high-capacity magazine clips as well. congress woman rosa delar 0. she will be there with the president today. congressman, tomorrow another day when you are all back in town here recognizing equal pay day. are we there yet? this is an issue we have been talking about for a long time. >> we are not there yet. but it's timely to be talking about equal pay because april 9th is equal pay day. but, you know, i know your listeners know the statistics. women make 70 sentence for every

dollar a man makes and what tomorrow is about is the day women have to work until just to make what a man-made in the previous year. so, it's an important time of the year for men and women to speak up on equal pay. >> it's amazing is that we have been talking about this for so long. >> yes. >> sent sentence for every dollar. right? even after the lilly ledbetter has been signed and all of that. >> that's follow on to lilly, who was, you know, a heroine of mine. it's very simple. it is very simple concept, bill. it's men, women and the same job, same pay. >> that's true in congress and it's true in the military. but quite frankly, it is not true for most women in this nation. now, it's not just a women's issue. >> uh-huh. >> it's not just about women. when you bring homeless money, man or woman, you hurt your

family. >> sure. we have unmarried women today, women who are sing widowed divorced, they are the most economically insecure demographic in america. it goes beyond being a woman to being an comic issue. this is the age -- i have been introduced this legislation for eight congresses but i am determined that we are going to get pay equity for women. >> and i am convinced you will get there. >> thank you. >> it's amazing it takes so long. we haven't seen each other. i haven't had a chance to ask you but you are one of the leading catholics in the united states congress. >> yes. >> so what's your take on the new pope francis? >> i had a remarkable privilege. that was being collected and being asked to be part of the official delegation that went to

a rome and an opportunity of a lifetime, bill. saint pieter's square is a thrill very poignant but listening to pope francis and his words were poignant when he talked about the role of the catholic church as a protector of the poor those who are the most vulnerable and it was hearing those words meant so much. and he took it a february further. it wasn't just the church is a protector of the poor, those who are most in need but those of us in other professions and he cited government officials. >> uh-huh? >> that that is our role. so it was reinforcing that for

me and very, very proud of the social justice work that the catholic church has done and has a rich tradition in that he was once again speaking about that role of the church. >> no. he seems to be. >> that's his focus so far, so good, i think. >> yes. >> it's refreshing to see if the church re-focuses on that mission. >> right. >> on those issues. >> i haven't heard that language in a very long time. >> i hope it stays that way, congress woman? >> amen. >> again, congratulations to you and all of the people of connecticut for your leadership on this issue we will see you when you get back to washington. come back to the studio. congress woman rosa delar 0 representing the state of keblt here in the house of representatives. big day for the president going

up to hartford today and speaking to the state legislature. >> this is "the bill press show" live on your radio and current tv.

this show is about being up to date, staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding.

[ music ] >> this is the compil press show live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. thirteen minutes now before the top of the hour here on the full court press this monday april 8th. ryan grim from huffington post will be here as a friend of bill in the next hour. we'll be joined by eleanor sneal, president of the feminist majority. peter?

>> different states have like a state song or the state bird or the state dog. >> yes. >> there was a bill that was recently shot down in north carolina that was going to establish a state religion. >> yeah. they need one in north carolina. right? >> right. >> fortunately, that bill was shut down but a new survey shows -- >> i bet they would have a different religion in nashville than in charlotte. you know what i mean? >> the cess pool of sin, as i believe one state senator called it. there is a new survey that shows actually people are not -- they are not -- the majority of people don't favor having a state religion but more people than i would have thought are for it. 34% of adults would favor establishing christianity as the official state religion in their own state. 47% would oppose doing so. >> that's -- >> a huge margin. >> 34% of adults favor establishing christianity as their state religion.

>> well, first of all, i would say read the constitution. >> there you go. >> all right. let's just start right there. right? >> yeah. >> but then if you are going to have a religion certainly i wouldn't want christianity. you would want signology. elron hubbard is such an impressive man, so much more impressive than jesus christ. >> wait until somebody brings up the fact. >> ridiculous. >> that they want signscientology. >> the idea 34 people in today's time would say we ought to have a state religion. hello! again,ists in philadelphia over the weekend. there are some people in philadelphia 200 and something years ago who had a different idea. >> that's still the idea that prevails. first amendment of the constitution. hey, by the way, a couple of other issues here, president obama -- by the way, speaking of state religion, i've got to tell

you, the president had a prayer service at the whitehouse on friday. i just want to tell you one more time. i think that is a terrible mistake and a terrible precedent to set. he's not the first president who has done it. prayer services do not belong in the white house. they or the congressional building are the house office buildings and the u.s. capitol. they don't belong in the senate office buildings and i can't believe that the president, even though he is a christian, still continues this tradition. let me just, if we can, dan, this is president obama friday morning, now, you tell me if this belongs in the white house. >> when we tend to the sick when we console those in pain when we sacrifice for those in need wherever and whenever we are there to give comfort and guide and to love then christ is with us. >> christ is with us?

>> hum. >> i know, i'm sorry. i'm sorry. fine. mr. president, you want to give that sermon in st. john's episcopal church or across lafayette square, fine but not in the white house. what about those people who don't believe in jesus christ? what about those people who have no organized faith at all? i am telling you bad news. bad news on this front. we will find out more about this but i want to put out kind of a warning shot today about the president's budget. we will find out more about it on wednesday when he releases his budget. it's long overdue. it was supposed to come out in february but they promised they were going to release it on wednesday and some stuff is leaked. what is leaked is that in the president's budget, he contains cuts to medicare and to social security. under the so-called chained cpi, which is a way they adjust

calculating what benefits ought to be paid, which, in effect cuts the benefits social security benefits for people who are today on social security. even though social security has not added to the deficit at all, even though president obama has said social security should be off the table, eats put it on the table purportedly in his budget under this chained cpi. jay carney defended that at our brief okay friday saying look. we admit this is not an ideal situation. >> this is not the president's ideal budget proposal. it is a budget proposal that represents a good-faith compromise position. >> so it's a compromise position and jay carney says, you know you understand basically we can't win them all. >> we are not in the business in washington of getting everything we want. that does not happen. negotiation and compromise requires a willingness to accept

less than 100% of what you want. >> yeah, but there were the white house went out of its way to say we put these cuts in here showing we are willing to compromise and liberals don't have to worry because we won't do these unless john boehner agrees to getting rid of tax loopholes. john boehner has said no way, no how will he consider those tax loopholes. look, here's the deal i've got to say. again, we will find out more about this. this is a lousy bargain. this is a lousy compromise. this is a bad idea. with should get rid of tax loopholes for people parking money overseas, for owners of corporate jets, big oil companies, all of those tax advantages. we should get rid of those tax loopholes and corporate welfare

or the welfare for the rich regardless. we shouldn't have to give up anything to get rid of those because they are bad public policy, stealing from the middle class and the idea that we have to cut social security and cut medicare and cut benefits of those people on those programs today in order to get rid of this tax look hope for the oil companies is an outrageous bargain, outrageous compromise the president shouldn't suggest the possibility when we come back we will tell you what the president is up to today. this breaking news we just learned, margaret thatcher has died at the age of 87 from a stroke that just came across the wires just a few seconds ago. margaret thatcher, former prime minister of england, dead at 87. we will be right back. >> this is the"the bill press show."

13450uz >> this is "the bill press show" >> bill: president obama, busy day today. he gets his daily briefing at 11:15 this morning. played around with golf over the weekend by the way. it was beautiful here then he goes up to hartford connecticut. as we have been talking. he will deliver remarks at the university of hartford this afternoon at 5:45 p.m. and then coming back here to the white house, jay carney will be holding a briefing at 1:00 o'clock this afternoon. in the next hour ryan grim washington bureau chief for huffington post as a friend of

bill. eleanor sneal will join us as well. one more exciting hour coming up. >> this is the bill press"the bill press show." that were just stinging my feet. [ female announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing rash, hives, blisters, changes in eye sight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who've had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. having less pain... it's a wonderful feeling. [ female announcer ] ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain.

[ music ] >> a good monday morning everybody. monday april 8th, great to see you today. thank you for joining us here on the full court press. we are coming to you life from washington, d.c., our nation's capitol and our studio right here on capitol hill just down the street from the united states capitol building bringing you the news of the day here in our nation's capitol around the country and around the globe. not only that, more importantly, we give you a chance to talk

about it by giving us a call at 866-55-press, by joining us on twitter @bpshow. send your comments @bpshow or on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. today, president obama traveling up to hartford, connecticut speaking on gun safety saluting the connecticut legislature for becoming the latest state to enact the toughest gun safety laws in the country so now we have new york and colorado and connecticut and the state of mayor maryland doing the right thing. the big question is as congress comes back in town will congress have the backbone to step up to the nra as well? on other news t president obama has apologized. i don't think he should have or should have had to but he apologized for saying not only

was she a great attorney general but also the best looking one in the country and the judge says the morning after pill has to be over the counter with no prescription available to all american women. we will talk about that and a whole lot more right here on current tv. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

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life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> occupy! >> we will have class warfare. (vo) true stories, current perspective. documentaries. on current tv. [ music ] >> broadcasting crosses the nation on your radio, and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> president obama, heading to hartford, connecticut today to salute the connecticut legislature in enacting tough gun safety measures. joining new york and colorado and maryland now four states taking the lead. will congress follow? unlikely. but we will keep the pressure on. good morning, every way.

what do you say? it is monday april 8th. and this is the "full-court press" and we are booming out to you live coast to coast. where we will tell you not only what's going on around the country and around the globe. we will give you a chance to let us know what you think about it. it's interactive t.v. radio we call it at 866-55-press, or give us your comments on twitter twitter @bpshow or on facebook facebook.com and if you want to debate the issues among yourselves while we are talking about them here on the air, go to current.com, click on the chat room and you are in the that the room with other "full-court press"ers across the land. so much going on with congress coming back in town today. we needed some professional expert help today. wireached out to the washington bureau chief of the huffington

post. rhyme ryan grim has that job. >> thanks for having me. >> early on a monday morning. not as early as we started out. joining our team of peter ogburn and dan henning with our new screener, alicia cruz. hello, al isha. cyprian boulding has the day off. so monty canceller, not chancellor, cancel or filling in and keeping us looking good on the video cam this morning. heightcamptkamp

heitkamp, leaving four democrats but the big news was not that joe donnelly and heidi heitkamp changed their minds. it was kim jong -- un: you thought he was busy with nuclear weapons? no, he has been dealing with same-sex marriage. saturday night live shows how he has evolved. >> you know, in the past i have taken a different view on same-sex marriage. publically my thinking on this issue has evolved mostly because of the experiences of a nephew who happens to be gay. watching him suffer unhappiness because of this tissue affected me deeply. i will still had to have him extricated. not because he was gay. it was because he was hosting a

weekly book discussion group at his apartment. it is amazing. >> we could almost put it as three. and tim johnson almost seems checked out. i was thinking, why hasn't he flipped? he has been up for reelection. my wife says maybe he's actually not for it. >> that's a strange thought. what is that? what is that nonsense? but, you know, because i think that most of these senate democrats for years have been supportive of it privately. i am a senator. >> you have to understand why i can't do this. >> tim johnson might actually just not like it.

>> yeah. >> weird. >> yeah. joe message will never change i don't think, might be the last one in all of the senate republicans. >> i think kim ung will change. >> pryor and landrieu are up for rely. landrieu is a hard-core politician. she will look at the numbers. >> now if wal-mart told him to. isn't wal-mart decent on that? >> they have.

right. louisiana, kiss of death? >> 2016 at the latest. >> joe mancion, west virginia ain't going to happen. two republicans so far, mark kirk and called us saying the chief justice was going to call on support of obamacare. we will put you on the line for doma. how do you call this one? >> i will tell you what the experts say and then i will tell you what i say. the experts -- >> thought you were an expert? >> nada. i am an arm-chair guy here when i say, "experts i mean mostly

mike sachs covers the department for us and mike sachs covers the supreme court. he's been -- mike is into more supreme court cases than anybody i know outside of nina tottenberg. and he came out of it thinking that kennedy had weighed all of the different arguments and come to the conclusion that there is no question that he would have to rule in favor of gay marriage. therefore, towards the end he started looking for ways out saying why did we -- i think one of his quotes was why did we even take this case in the first place, which sachs took to be a window into his thinking that, man, i don't want to rule the way i think i have to rule. the only way i can intellectually honestly rule so i will find that there is no standing here and we are going to have to get out of this. >> on the prop yeah. >> sachs thinks they will get out of it now. if they don't take prop 8,

that's big. you are looking at a major win here what i think will happen is he is local at all of that. >> he? >> kennedy and roberts will also join him. >> okay. and just say, you know what? yes, we could figure out some way to twist our way out of this and punt it down the road but they are not going to do that. they will say, look. let's just do this. why go through this over again. 6-3 with kennedy and roberts. >> that would be huge. cataclysmic. >> that's not what the experts are thinking. that's the way i see them work the logic out. >> why wait? states are moving in that direction. public opinion is moving that direction. it is going to happen.

it is going to happen. the supreme court delayed, delayed. they have the benefit of looking back saying they delayed a few of these thing. what good did it do them? why don't we be the ones that get there right now. they don't want to leave themselves in a weirdly situation where they have fully legalized it and struck down doma but haven't legalized it across the country because then you are in a situation where you are only inconveniencing people who making them travel to different states when it's legal because then they come back to say arkansas, whatever, arkansas would have to recognize the marriage because doma has been struck down. i don't think there is any question that's going down.

they will say why continue with this charade. let arkansas host its own weddings >> bill: there is another factor here that people have not yet paying that much attention to. >> why let vermont and iowa have all of the we haddings >> bill: why let colorado and washington have all of the pot money.

>> dan's planning a wedding. >> five54 days. >> colorado or washington. >> in maryland unfortunately. >> on the president's schedule, he is going to hartford connecticut, he was in denver last week making a point of basically the message is hey if a state can do it, why can't congress? do you think it will work? >> that congress will not step up to the play. >> it's a smart bet to bet against congress. you have to put your money somewhere. >> that's where to put it. they seem like they are willing to go through they are at tricks to expose people who don't want to vote on the gun legislation because reed likes to in general

protect himself and other kind of pro-gun democrats from these difficult votes. they are past that. they are ready to take these tough votes. all people want is a fair fight throughout 2009, 2010, when he was pushing his really aggressive agenda, he didn't do a lot of this. he didn't take it on the road and say, i demand a vote give me a vote and go out and have a bunch of uninsured people behind him. he let rom kind of like bring in the drug makers or whatever and work it that way. i think that led to a lot of the sincynicism and pessimism around the legislation. if you just give people the vote

butted you had your vote. you know who was against you. you know what work needs to be done. with healthcare, the most frustrating thing is people kept saying, well, the votes aren't there. do an independent count. well actually i count 51 here don't give up before you have a vote. people just want a fair shot at it i think if you give people that fair fight and you lose, then people say, hey you did everything you can do. >> that's what they are doing with the gun legislation. there was that moment where it seems like they were pulling back. now they have pushed for it again. now they say we probably don't have the votes for the assault

weapon ban and some of the other more aggressive measures but we will keep pushing forward anyway and see how it shakes out on the floor. >> i think we are going to get a vote in the senate and in the house, too. >> uh-huh. >> and that, in itself will be progress. we will get some kind of -- i believe some kind of gun safety legislation, certainly looks a little more like background checks. i hope they don't stop there. ryan grim is in studio with us basket bureau chief for the huffington post. we began to tackle some of the issues of the day. want to get your take on the president's budget. we hear he is willing to make cuts in social security. has democrats upset already and hasn't come out yes. 866-55. join the conversation. we will be back with ryan grim on the "full-court press" this monday morning. >> this is "the bill press show."

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. [ music ]

>> this is "the bill press show," live on your radio and current tv 25 minutes after this monday morning, april 8th, in studio with us washington bureau chief, and peter, some breaking news this morning. >> yeah. >> we talked a little bit about it earlier. >> you reported the end of last hour, margaret thatcher has passed away. 87 years old. she had a stroke and died after that. a lot of people are remembering their favorite quotes or stories from margaret thatcher. mine, however, is in 2011, in june, when sar apalin was going to britain and wanted to meet with margaret thatcher and

margaret thatcher said no. it would be belittling is how she put it. it would be be littlelittling. >> that's one thing you can admire about maggie thatcher. known as the iron lady. right? and much too much of a hawk for me. right? but the one thing she did prove was that the woman can do that job. >> no doubt about that. >> yeah. she we'lleded that unfortunately against the working class in britain and it's not the best leg but dallas no question she was tough. >> dead at the age of 87. associated press broke that a little while ago. ryan, i want to ask you about the president's budget. what has been leaked and confirmed by the white house, jay carney confirming it friday is that it does include the

chained cpi, which would, in effect, cut benefits. it would cut benefits for seniors now on social security all along, he said it ought to be off of the table. >> i was convinced i told arthur delaney a friend of the show. he said, of course it will be in there. he loves the chained cpi. he loves it. arthur's idea is that obama wants it for itself. says he won't just em pov impoverish

elderly people for its own sake but he wants about 600 billion of it to come through revenue and 1.2 trillion to come through cuts. you are still emimpoverishing people for nothing. if you ask people, what's the national debt, they wouldn't get it within 5 trillion, most people because they don't care. what people want is growth. they want jobs to be out there. they want to know that if they lose their job, they are going to be able to find something different. i think that's what people don't understand. it's not just people who are jobless who want there to be jobs. it's people who have jobs who hate their boss and want a little bit of a sense of empowerment. >> i couldn't agree with you more. why should we have to give up anything to get rid of the tax loop hole for people who park their money in the cayman islands?

it's out rageous. >> as long as there is still elder poverty, we should be talking about increasing social security. >> this is "the bill press show." criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern

>> chatting with you live at current.com/billpress, this is "the bill press show." >> a bills day on full court"full-court press," coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours on current tv and on your ration progressive talk radio station brought to you by the international brotherhood of teamsters under president jim hoffan.

we all live better because of their good work. driving trucks and all kinds of things at the website www.teamster.org. ryan grim is in studio with us as a friend of bill this hour, the washington bureau chief for huffington post. now, we are joined by the president president of the feminist majority, eleanor sneal, good friend of the program. nice to have you back. >> good to have you back. >> ryan, we haven't gotten to this yet. i want ellie's take on it. the president called to apologize focamela harris the attorney general for california after saying she was brilliant. she was tough. she is fair. she is just what you want in a law enforcement official. he also said, and by the way she is the best looking attorney general in the country. >> yeah. well, he was roundly criticized for that. >> should he have been? >> let's face it. he shouldn't have said that part of it.

let's face it. we have to give up those kind of comments. >> the right house saw they had a problem. he called her, apologized. did we make too much of this stuff, brian? >> i don't thinks. i guess relative to, you know all of the rest of the suffering in the world, sure maybe. obama should have had that in the check. he was quoted, you know a character in there said, look, the world is full of guys.

don't be a guy. be a man. don't be a guy. obama was just a guy. he is a role model for the rest of the country. >> i think in all of his i think we are too sensitive. i don't mean to pile on. i think he has played golf with one woman. >> that's more importantly. >> florence. yeah. to my knowledge. of course the basketball. >> he is a boy. no big deal. i hope it's behind us. this is kind of more evidence. we give him credit for sota sonia mayor. >> and the court appointments.

he is 47% >> bill: is that right? >> for women and that's the highest in history. >> all right. bravo. the morning after pill. this is one the administration has had problems with. a federal judge at the end of last week elie says this ought to be available over the counter, no prescription? >> this is important. it had to be behind the counter. now, it will be more accessible and more young people will know about it. so it's very important. by the way, it was supported by the american college of gynecology obstet at the time tricks, the pediatricians, by the public health association. so there is no reason scientificificcally for this. i think the judge who reached

him out in the decision was right on. >> let's hope this is not a pill. it should not be appealed and it should be over the counter. it would help a great deal in women having more choice. >> the decision that he was critical of was a decision made by at least announced by hhs secretary kathleen sebilius during campaign that the administration would oppose making it available over the counter. >> to under 17year-olds. >> under 17-year-olds. that younger girls should not have access to this? >> what the problem is is that -- >> more sexual activity? >> who knows, but the reality

is, it's not dangerous. it's more dang dangerous going through an unwanted pregnancy, maybe panicking, going to a back-alley abortion. all of that is far more dangerous. if you are talking about the health of the young person the safest thing is to make this accessible. the administration came in. >> this is the first time anybody over rode a recommendation of the fda. the fda recommended it. they overrode the recommendation recommendation. it was very unusual. fraifrnl it's not a good precedent. it's good this court decision came down. >> the administration the people, with the fda are making them override them, they thought

the fda ought to have had better political instincts. >> how could they do otherwise when everybody -- >> right. >> the science was on the side of no restriction on this. all of the science was on that side. so, in all of the major medical authorities. >> how does this pill work and has it been around long enough that we know that it does work? >> oh, my goodness, yes. it's the morning after pill. actually, you take it. it's a little stronger dose of birth control. you take three pills and you take them this was developed in france? >> no. this is not an abortion pill. this is a birth control measure. it presents a pregnancy rather

than and abortion? >> it's on the market. it has been. >> there was no reason other than politics be? >> not only that see. people don't understand you know to know about it saying it's available. but this way, it will be with all of the other products that are quite safe, you know and in the family planning area of. >> no prescription necessary? no doctors' prescription necessary? >> no. this will be over the counter. >> the fact that it's just young women know that. they have been for years the ones who know it have been using this triple up birth control after unprotected sex. so it's not like you can completely suppress this. >> not only that. it would make it much more expensive because you have to go for the under-17, you had to go

to a doctor for prescription. >> that's an exam. that as cost. it's also discriminatory. >> you have to get seen and it takes weeks to get an appointment. >> this is 72 hours. >> right. sglj yaw. >> 866-55-press. join the conversation at any time. this judge this one judge is ruling stands unless appealed. is that right? >> that's right. the administration would have to appeal it. so we hope they let it stand and that's it. i can't remember how long the review process has been. >> they would make a horrible mistake. i can't imagine they would. >> they are not going to win also. >> they could get the policy outcome and have somebody else do it for them.

acog and the pediatricians did it. all of the medical health authorities and the science and the fda. i am glad they make these decisions on the basis of the science and the medicine. >> the president doesn't have to -- he is not running for re'lex. he doesn't have to worry about this. right? himself? and it's not going to negatively impact any democrat in the house or senate. >> the average age of sex is about 16 years of age, 16 and it may be a few months. so i mean there is a reality here, too. >> yeah. >> better that there is protection than a person has an unwanted pregnancy. >> eleanor smeal head of the hemnist majority here with ryan grim. your calls on this major decision 866-55-press. when we come back, let's talk a little bit in advance of what is recognized tomorrow as equal pay day. we are not there yet.

elliott will tell us how close we are here on this monday edition of the "full-court press." >> this is "the bill press show." 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

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[ music ] >> on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." . >> all right. 13 minutes before the top of the hour. eleanor smeal and ryan grim in studio with us on the full court press. back to our conversation about the morning after pill and other than important issues. every once in a while, these issues, stories, rather, about identity theft pop up in the news. here is one out of illinois.

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31-800-356-5967. elie and ryan, i want to talk about equal pay and other issues but dave from madison, wisconsin has a comment. >> good morning, bill. you always have such excellent panelists. >> bill: thank you. i think so, too. >> i want to reiterate what i think eleanor smeal said. this is about the use of sound science in policy making and i have a 17-year-old daughter. i try science as well as compassion when i am making decisions for her. i am pleased when we see a court doing the same thing. i would be appalled if the administration appealed this. this is about science and it's about time we had that put back into our policy making. >> good comment, dave. thank you. yeah, i think that the more the administration hear from parents like him. >> better. >> the better. right? >> right. >> equal pay day tomorrow. what's the big deal now?

you know, surely men are getting as much as men for the same jobs. >> we wish. don't we wish. according to the government, $0.77 on the dollar. actually, though, if you put in age, because that goes down to 16-year-olds. if you look at like a 50-year-old woman versus a 50-year-old man, that will be a bigger gap. if you put in benefits in other words, if you get pension or health insurance, sick days then the gap widens even more. do you realize -- this is a terrible statistic, but something like 48% of women workers do not get one day of paid sick leave. not one day. >> bill: what -- >> think about that. >> bill: i am heur at huffington post, you pay your women reporters the same as your male reporters? >> try to. i think most of them are better. >> yeah. i wouldn't think about not -- so where is this happening? >> because women. >> private sectors, not government jobs. get the same as male senators?

>> that's right. but if you would look at female-dominated jobs, that's the problem. in female-dominated jobs, they are paid less. and the reality is we still have a sex-segregated work force with women principally doing work in so-called female-dominated job sectors. so let's look at elementary schoolteachers or child care workers. they are very poorly paid compared to higher -- the higher up especially child care workers. those are very formative, very important work, but it's paid less. nurses would be paid less than an engineer in the same hospital but the reality is the nurses it takes a lot of education, risking their lives through infection, et cetera. so i could go on. >> yeah. but if you check in, ryan right, you want to see the nurse, not the engineer? >> right. >> you want her totation your

vitals, not the engineer. just a couple of minutes left. on the state level, we see state after state after state enacting these really draconian anti-abortion laws. >> terrible. what we are doing is that the states -- i don't en understand it. they just lost the republicans the right-wing republicans lost this election pretty badly yet they are doubling down and there is a huge gender gap in this election. one of the reason was the right for women to make their own health decisions. but here, you have kansas just passed another restrictive law. arkansas. twelve-week restriction on abortion even though that violates row v. wade. same thing with north dakota made it six weeks banned abortion. you might not know you are pregnant in six weeks. the other thing, as i was saying to you, bill is that they are

passing these things called trap laws which means that they are making the regulations, birth control and family planning clinics the same as if it was a hospital, that you have to have the hallwayed wide enough for two gurneks. they don't use gurneys. the whole -- that you have to have the elevateors unnecessarily wide, that you have to have these unreasonable air condition standards that would not be normal in a building the size of a clinic which is much smaller than a hospital. it goes on. but the whole purpose of them is to close them. and that would, you know, reduce access because if you have hospitals doing abortions, they are much much more expensive. >> ryan, it looks like knowing they can't win in the congress or in basket, they are going around to the states? >> right. they are going to wind up in the supreme court. and, you know. >> cherry picking their states.

but by the way, north dakota, for example, we just had won a referendum in the primary in 2012, which was again on this subject not only that. we won the senate race. but then they just do these ridiculous extreme things because the republicans control the congress. >> bill: unfortunately -- fortunately, you are on the job. and you are calling them out and you are fighting them at every turn. eleanor smeal with feministmajority.org. ryan thank you. huffington post.com and i will be back with a quick parting shot. >> this is "the bill press show."

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[ music ] >> the parting shot with bill press, this is "the bill press show." . >> all right. very quickly, you've probably heard the rumor that cnn is bringing back crossfire. everybody wants to know what i think of it. here's my answer. it depends upon which crossfire they are talking about. if they are talking about the real crossfire, the one of that lasted for 19 years with bob novak and pat buchanan and john sununu and michael kinsley and me i say it is a great idea. that was a great show for a long time. bring back the crossfire that they moved over to washington university that was a gone show, terrible, horrible, that's the one jon stewart went after.

if they are talking about the kiddy crossfire, forget about it. the real crossfire, right on, and i am ready. >> this is "the bill press show."